Why HRE never grew up
by Kawamoto Haruka
Summary: A quick theory as to why HRE only appeared as a chibi. This has no actual Plot-line.


Why HRE never grew up

 _This is just a theory fic (do those exist?) There will be no actual plot, just some things I found interesting when contemplating the existence of HRE._

I think it's odd, how every country seemed to grow to an adult except HRE. Rome and Germania became adults. America became an adult over the span of a century despite Italy taking at least seven centuries to reach the same growth.

This leads me to believe that countries only mature as they become increasingly able to govern their own country.

So why did HRE never become an adult, despite reaching nation status?

The reason for this, I believe rests in the system of government the country uses. The relationship between the national government and the state/prefectural/district/local governments.

If you don't know this already there are three basic systems. The first, which is adopted by about 80% of current countries, is a unitary system, where the national government rules supreme and allots specific powers to the local governments.

The second is the federal system where power is divided between local and national governments, and each government retains those allotted powers. This system is used by about 20% of countries.

The third system, no country today uses. It the Confederate system, where the local governments are supreme and only certain powers are given to the national government. The most recent example of this I believe is the Confederate States of America, which was abolished after the American civil war. A confederate system can be quite confusing as sometimes the local governments have very different policies.

If you haven't figured it out already HRE was a confederacy.

If you recall, in episode five of World Twinkle, Prussia explains the formation of Germany. There were many Germanic 'brothers' who had formed the holy roman empire and decided to come together to form Germany. Appearance wise, each of these states were adults.

As no other states are shown in the show, I cannot say for certain, but it seems to me that since the states were actually in control of most power within the Holy Roman Empire, they were able to reach maturity despite the fact that the representation of their national government remained a chibi.

Now this next part may just be my brain showing me what I want to, but it seems the other forms of government also help to determine the ages of the countries.

America. A country with a federal system, can be mistaken as a teenager in terms of appearance (and personality [though that really has nothing to do with this]) even though he is a superpower. However, Monaco, a very small nation in France (see World twinkle episode 12) has the appearance of a young woman, despite having less international power and land area than America. But Monaco does run on a Unitary system of government.

Other Federal system countries include, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Russia, India, Australia, and Belgium. (Note, I only listed countries that actually appear in Hetalia).

I will be the first to admit that these are not the youngest looking nations in Hetalia. Liechtenstein and Latvia most definitely appear younger. But they are also not the oldest, especially when one considers their size and power.

Turkey, one of the oldest looking characters in Hetalia, achieved great power as the ottoman empire. Even at that time, he had the appearance of an adult (given we couldn't see behind the mask) and hasn't appeared to age much since that point. China also hasn't seemed to age at all since he found Japan as a chibi.

This makes it seem like countries only become full adults when they have reached their height of power.

Now with all this taken into account, let's go back to HRE.

We only saw him as a chibi, from when he was introduced to when he left and never came back. The theory that Germany is HRE would work, as HRE was comprised of much of current Germany (making Germany HRE at his height of power) if not for World Twinkle episode five.

But still the Holy Roman Empire did have a Height of power, so why did HRE remain a chibi? This goes back to the confederacy, with the states actually receiving most of the power, very little made it to HRE to help him mature. For his country, the national government simple didn't have enough power to raise a personification.

So why was HRE included in to first place if the states were the main representations?

This has to do with the fact that one of the few powers the national government of the Holy Roman empire was allotted was the control of the military.

HRE lived through a time of turbulence, even going off to war, making the presence of the national government of the Holy Roman Empire, extremely crucial at this time. HRE was needed to organize the military, as leaving it up to the many states would cause confusion.

But Confederacies don't last long, and HRE died. Germany was formed and became a federalist system, which gave the personification of Germany enough power to grow into adulthood.

If we end up seeing states appear in Hetalia, following this pattern, any states personified in unitary systems will be young, chibis even. States from federal systems will be older, maybe not quite adults as that may depend on the size and relative power of the state. Any confederacies that are highlighted are likely to be young, with the states that form them being older than the nation him/herself.

This is in no way canon. If you agree with me, great! I'd love to hear anything you have to add.

If you think I'm dead wrong, tell me why. Shoot me your own theory or point out things I may have overlooked (or just plain ignored). I'm not greatly tied to this theory, so if you want to convert me to your own, go ahead and try. Just explain to me (in the nicest way possible) why what I've said is wrong.

Thanks for reading!


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